The Best Laid Plans
by LuckyDuck29
Summary: After weeks of hounding him, Maxie finally gets Spinelli to agree to cheat on her. But her plan backfires when he and the woman he picks become friends and eventually develop feelings for each other. Can she get Spinelli back, or is it already too late?
1. Heather

He wasn't her typical customer. He was nervous, obviously educated, and seemingly very reluctant. Most guys she dealt with were self-assured and knew exactly what they wanted. There was something about this guy, though, that made her want to get to know him as a person. But that wasn't her job. Unfortunately, her job was only to provide men with physical satisfaction. It left little room for serious relationships. Who wanted to date someone who did what she did for a living? She hated her job, but she needed the money.

She was struggling financially, trying to put herself through college. Her father had left when she was eleven and her mother had been seriously injured in a car accident three years ago and couldn't work anymore. So she was not only trying to get through school, but paying her mother's care and medical bills.

Her mother felt horrible about it. She felt she was a burden to Heather. Truthfully, even though she hated her job, she did not consider her mother a burden. She was grateful that she was still alive to support. That one night on an icy road could have made heather an orphan.

Three years ago, desperate to stay in college and care for her injured mother and armed with proof that she was of legal adult status, she came to Coleman and made an arrangement with him. She would service him for free if he agreed to let her have a room and assure her safety. As long as she was in this room, he would listen for her call for help. If anyone threatened her, he would act. If he knew a certain customer had a propensity for violence, he would make sure before that client went upstairs with Heather that he knew that Coleman was looking out for her. If she didn't come down in the same condition she'd been in when she went up, Coleman would introduce the offender to his baseball bat.

Heather had been assured by Coleman that this guy wouldn't hurt a fly. He and her customer had talked before Coleman had directed him to Heather. There had been nothing threatening in Coleman's manner and her customer seemed to feel fairly comfortable around him. This reassured Heather. But on closer inspection, she decided that even if she hadn't seen them talking, Coleman's protection would not be needed tonight. Her intuition had always served her well and she only needed to look into his eyes to know he was not a threat.

He looked at her for a long moment. She thought she could get lost in those expressive eyes. They were intelligent, and very sad. Maybe he'd come to her because he needed to try to alleviate some of the sadness.

She knew that providing physical satisfaction sometimes led to emotional satisfaction. This guy didn't seem very self-confident. Maybe that was why he'd come to her.

Heather was majoring in psychology. As she studied his eyes, she wondered what motivated him. What had driven him to her? Why did he look so sad and uncomfortable?

She began with him the way she began with all her clients, by making small talk.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, um, everyone- everyone just calls me Spinelli. And- and- you?"

"I'm Heather. Nice to meet you, Spinelli."

"The pleasure is mine."

He gave her a nervous smile.

"Is Spinelli your last name?"

He nodded. Heather felt sorry for him; he was hunched over, hugging himself as if she were a threat and he were trying to make himself a smaller target. She had a strong feeling this was not a new posture for him.

"What do you like to do?"

She needed to know the answer to this question so she could properly satisfy him.

"You wish to know The Jackal's hobbies?"

She looked at him in confusion, and not only because he thought she wanted to know about his hobbies rather than what satisfied him physically.

"I am The Jackal," he said, showing much more confidence, "the Ace of Cyberspace. I hunt information. I am the Assassin of the Internet."

He straightened and gave her a genuine grin. There was no mistaking the pride in that grin. She found it endearing.

"You're into computers."

She smiled.

"I'm taking a computer course in college. My major is psychology, but you can't get by today without a working knowledge of computers."

"Very true."

They discussed her class for a while and he clarified some things she didn't understand. Somehow the discussion of computers led to Spinelli telling her about his friends and Heather telling him about her parents. He was very sympathetic about her mother's accident and commended her for taking the necessary steps, no matter how distasteful she found them, to care for her injured parent. She also confessed to him that her mother didn't know what she was doing; she thought Heather was working as a baby sitter for a single mother who needed to work at night. She was in pain a lot of the time, so it usually didn't occur to her to ask how the medical bills were being paid. When she did ask, Heather was vague and told her the important thing was that they were being paid.

It was getting late, and as much as she would have loved to continue talking to him, she had to get home to her mother, so she moved toward him. But then he looked at her again with those sad, vulnerable eyes. He hunched over and hugged himself again, losing all the confidence that identifying himself as The Jackal had given him. She waited patiently for him to speak. Her intuition told her what he was going to say before he said it.

"I'm sorry. This is wrong."

He stood up.

"What did I do?"

"No, it's not you. I can't do this. I- I'm only here because-"

He looked away from her.

"My girlfriend wanted me to," he said softly.

"What?"

He looked back at her again.

"She was unfaithful to me and she is insisting that I also be unfaithful. She thinks that will fix things. But the truth is that she betrayed me. Sleeping with you or anyone else won't make me trust her again."

Heather nodded in agreement.

"Why did she think this would fix it?"

"She believes it is only right to exact revenge. She slept with someone, so now The Jackal must do the same. She says it will make her feel better. But it's wrong. I can't sleep with someone I don't love. You're very attractive, but I don't love you. I don't even know you. She came to me with a stack of magazines and told me to pick someone. She made a list of people that I might sleep with. I thought if I hired a lady of the night, such as yourself, who is paid to- well, to sleep with men, then that would satisfy Maximista's requirements. It would, but it wouldn't fix our problems."

"Maximista?"

She knew enough about him by now to know that he had nicknames and interesting phrases to describe the people in his life. She was a lady of the night. His friend and roommate was someone named Stone Cold and his business partner was Fair Samantha.

"My girlfriend, Maxie, although, I don't know if she can remain my girlfriend for much longer."

He looked away again. When he spoke, his voice reflected his mixed feelings.

"We almost got married in September."

He told her about how they'd connected through the death of Maxie's sister, Georgie, who had been Spinelli's friend. He had spent over a year trying to impress Maxie and make her fall in love with him and was over the moon when she finally did. Then she had agreed to marry him, but told Stone Cold the night before the wedding that she wasn't ready to get married. Spinelli had called off the wedding because he knew it was what she wanted. He had told her they didn't have to be married to be happy. They had agreed to be non-husband and wife, which meant that they would be entirely committed to each other without being married. Apparently, Maxie had not taken those vows as seriously as Spinelli had. To him, the non-marriage meant that they were growing and maturing as a couple. He didn't require a promise of marriage from her immediately. To her, it had apparently meant that she had the right to sleep with someone else and then try to force Spinelli to do the same in order to get rid of her guilt. Apparently, she'd been hounding him about it for weeks. It seemed to Heather that he'd agreed to it only to shut her up, although he was too sweet and polite to put it in those terms.

Heather didn't understand why Maxie would throw away what she had. Spinelli would obviously rearrange the world for her if he could and she was sleeping around? Heather would give anything to have a guy as sweet and devoted as Spinelli. She thought Maxie was a selfish little ingrate who deserved to be left alone.

But her job was not to judge. Maybe this time, she could offer advice instead of physical pleasure. Maybe this time she could actually make a difference.


	2. Advice from a Stranger

Spinelli didn't know why he was telling all this to a total stranger. He had hired her to meet Maximista's demand, even though it was the last thing he wanted. But he couldn't sleep with her; there was no emotional connection. Maxie could sleep with someone without feeling for them, but it was not in Spinelli's makeup.

But Heather was listening to him. She was letting him speak freely. She didn't' know him and didn't know what the majority of the town thought of him. Maybe the fact that they didn't know each other was what made it so easy to talk to her.

What was he doing? He was in a room above Jake's with a Lady of the night. He didn't love her, but to make Maxie happy, he had agreed to sleep with her. Some of the anger brought on by Maxie's betrayal reasserted itself. Why was he being made to atone for her actions?

He looked at Heather again. She was beautiful. She had red hair and blue eyes. She wore a dress that somehow managed to announce her profession without announcing it. Her nails were painted red and her blue high heals were modest, but fashionable. They made her look almost as tall as he was.

But she wasn't his Maximista. He wanted to please her, but he just couldn't sleep with Heather or any other woman in order to ease her conscience. She had said if he didn't do this, they would be through. He didn't want to lose her, but how could he do something that went against everything he believed in about love and commitment?

"You've obviously wrestled with the question of whether or not you could do this for Maxie. You've also determined that it's not gonna make you trust her again. You agreed to sleep with someone else in order to make her happy. Have you asked yourself whether your feelings matter to her?"

"Maximista's happiness is all that matters to me."

"Your feelings don't count at all in this situation?"

He looked away, feeling his eyes prickle. IF his feelings had mattered, Maxie would not have disregarded them, first by sleeping with Franco, then by insisting that he put himself in this situation. Did she love him? Would they last after this? How could they? She had made it very clear that his feelings were secondary to her wants and needs. He suddenly had a strong feeling that no matter what happened in this situation, he was going to lose Maxie, either because of his own failure to do this for her or by her desire to self-destruct periodically.

But what had caused her to find pleasure in the arms of another in the first place? How had he failed as her non-husband? Why couldn't she have talked to him about it instead of betraying him and then trying to force them back on track on her time table? Why was he so inadequate that she had to turn to someone else? What had he done to deserve this? Obviously she thought he deserved it, or he would not be the one who needed to make up for her actions by sleeping with Heather. She was punishing him for whatever he'd done to drive her to Franco.

"I tried," he said softly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."

He swallowed hard and looked back at her. He could hear the pain in his own voice and wished he were better at controlling his emotions.

"I tried to be a good non-husband. I was faithful, I tried to put her first, I even agreed to do this to make her happy. It's not enough. I'm not enough. If I were she never would have turned to The Darkly Focused One."

"You don't consider Maxie responsible for her own actions; you blame yourself."

"I must be at least partly responsible. If I had been worthy, she would never have betrayed me."

"That's the key phrase here, Spinelli. She betrayed you. Maxie is the one at fault here, not you. If she were having a problem with you, she should have been honest with you. She never should have brought in somebody else."

"She was merely trying to convince him to do a photo shoot."

He didn't know why he needed to defend Maxie's actions. The photo shoot was no reason to sleep with a total stranger. Not only was Franco a stranger, but he was a dangerous one. Couldn't Maxie see that? He had blindfolded her in the limo. Why hadn't that given her a clue. Maxie was not a stupid woman. Why didn't she run screaming from him the minute he took out the blindfold? Why had she agreed to go with him, pose for him and then sleep with him? If she loved Spinelli, why was this an issue? Why were they not sitting together, either at Casa De Stone Cold or at her and Lulu's apartment, cuddling on the couch and discussing their lives and their future? Why had Maxie done this to them, and why was he trying to justify her actions?

"Photo shoot?" Heather asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Maximista is the Junior Editor for Crimson Magazine."

His feelings of shame and inadequacy were momentarily replaced with pride in his love's accomplishments. But then he remembered the lengths she would apparently go to in order to further her career.

"You're saying she slept with this guy to get something out of him."

He nodded.

"Does she know him personally? I mean, did she before they-"

"No."

"She committed herself to you, then slept with someone she didn't even know and you're the bad guy? You're the one who has to make up for what she did?"

His pain and anger came to the forefront again. Heather was right. Why should Spinelli be the one to make this right?

"Do you honestly think you're the one who needs to fix what Maxie did?"

He shook his head, more in confusion than denial or answer to her question. He must have done something to make Maxie want to hurt him.

"I don't wanna lose her. She's told me that she'll break up with me if I don't sleep with another woman."

"So she's gonna force you to do something you don't wanna do so she can pretend nothing happened with this other guy or she's gonna leave you. This leads me to my previous question. Don't your feelings matter?"

"I guess not."

"Shouldn't they?"

The question echoed in Spinelli's head, repeating itself as he considered it. He was not worthy of Maxie; she had proven that when she'd slept with Franco. But he was being punished for her actions. If she didn't want him, she should have been honest with him instead of deliberately hurting him and then trying to make him do something she had to know would go against his principles.

"How many times did you refuse to do this before you finally agreed?" Heather asked.

"I've lost count," he responded with a slight smile.

He didn't know why he was smiling; it felt strange. Maxie was so forceful, almost domineering. He just couldn't stand up to her anymore. Refusing her tied his stomach in knots for fear that she would finally give up on him. He had finally agreed to do this for her to prevent that outcome and because he just couldn't have the same argument over and over again for the rest of their lives. Maxie had known he would give in; she had to have known. She had kept at him until he'd finally relented.

Her forcefulness was one of the many things he loved and admired about her, but in this situation, it made him feel emasculated. She had defeated him on a very important issue. He suddenly wondered if this was how the rest of their relationship, no matter how long or how short, would be.

But now he had to go back to her and tell her that he had not done as she'd asked. She would leave him then. He had failed her again, only this time he knew how he had failed. He couldn't make it right either; it just wasn't in him to betray her for any reason. He loved her. When you loved someone, you did not betray them.

But Maxie had. Didn't that mean she didn't love him? If that were the case, why did he want to stay with her? But he did want to stay with her. He would do anything- almost anything, he corrected himself- to keep from losing her. But how could he tell her that he couldn't do this?

Heather listened carefully as he voiced these thoughts. He saw no judgment in her warm blue eyes, only sympathy and wisdom beyond her years. Spinelli thought she was going to make an excellent psychologist.

"Don't you think your feelings are supposed to matter? There are two of you in this relationship. Shouldn't your feelings be every bit as important as hers? A relationship is an equal partnership."

He went over everything Heather had said to him in his mind. She was right. Maxie had been the one to betray him. She had not been threatened; the decision to sleep with Franco had ultimately been hers. She had told him that Franco had told her to leave and she had initiated their sexual encounter. It didn't seem that Franco had needed to try very hard to manipulate her.

Relationships were supposed to be equal partnerships, but how could it be when one person was inferior to the other? He was obviously inferior, unworthy, if Maxie could love him and still so easily reject him, however temporarily, for someone like Franco.

"He hurt her," he said to Heather, "and she still turned to him for whatever I wasn't giving her."

"Franco didn't hurt her, not from what you've told me. He gave her choices. She could have refused to put the blindfold on; she could have done what any sane woman would have done and run screaming from the limo the second he took out the blindfold. She could have left his studio and called for a cab when he asked her to pose for those pictures. She could have left when he told her to instead of staying and having sex with him. You are not at fault here, Spinelli. Maxie is trying to manipulate you the same way she allowed Franco to manipulate her."

Heather knew she was losing her objectivity, but she couldn't stand to see this poor guy beating himself up over the actions of someone who didn't deserve him. As far as Heather was concerned, Maxie deserved to be with someone like Franco. If that was what she wanted, she should let Spinelli find someone worthy of him.

But Heather knew Spinelli didn't want anyone else. For what ever reasons, he considered himself unworthy of Maxie. She had hurt him and he still considered himself to blame. Part of her mind reflected that he would make an excellent patient when she became a psychologist. She forced the thought away with annoyance. He was a human being, not a case study. He was hurting and in need of a friend, not a therapist.

"I have to tell her," he said. "I can't lie and say I did what she wanted. It would make her happy, but I would know it was a lie and she would inevitably catch on."

"It would also complicate your situation," Heather agreed. "If you lie to her and tell her you slept with me you'll only be adding to your problems."

He nodded with a sigh and looked away from her again. She spoke his name gently and put her hand on his shoulder, then waited until he looked at her again.

"You need to tell her; you already know that. You need to tell her and if she loves you she'll accept it and respect you for not going against your beliefs. If she leaves you over this, it's her loss and her decision. She needs to face the consequences of her actions. You forgave her and she couldn't leave it at that. Whatever happens between the two of you once you tell her the truth is on Maxie and only Maxie. Do you understand?"

He nodded, somehow unable to look away from those intense but gentle eyes. They were exquisite pools of blue. They captivated him.

What was he thinking? She had beautiful eyes, but she was not Maxie.

"So what are you gonna do?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"I have no choice. I have to tell her the truth. I didn't sleep with you an I have no intension of sleeping with anyone but her. I'll tell her the truth and await her reaction."

He hugged himself again, and as he looked away from her, the tone of bravery and conviction he'd managed to affect left his voice.

"She will be furious."

"That's her choice. She can choose to respect you or she can choose to reject you. If she chooses to reject you, it's her loss."

"But I love her."

He sounded to himself like a small child. It made him feel even less like a man that he could be so desperate to hold on to someone who apparently thought so little of him that she could be unfaithful to him and then put him in this position. But Heather only gripped his shoulder more tightly, offering understanding and reassurance.

"I know you do," she said gently, "and that's why you need to take this risk. You need to let her know that you have feelings and that she needs to respect them. This relationship has to be about Maxie and Spinelli, not just Maxie, not Maxie, Spinelli and Franco, and certainly not Maxie, Spinelli and Heather. This is between you and she never should have tried to bring in anyone else."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, feeling guilty about trying to use her to fix his problems with Maxie.

"No, it's not your fault. Maxie bullied you into this situation. She counted on your need to please her in all things. She needs to acknowledge that you're her equal, not someone she can boss around and threaten. She has no right to do that."

"Maximista needs to be in control."

"That doesn't mean she gets to walk all over you."

Heather was fully aware that she was no longer the least bit objective now. Part of her questioned the wisdom of such a straight forward conversation with a total stranger. After all, she hardly knew Spinelli and she had very little knowledge of Maxie. But she knew that Spinelli deserved better than what Maxie was doing to him and she wanted to make him see that he mattered, that his feelings counted for something.

"The choice was taken out of my hands when I wimped out on you," he said without looking at her.

"You did not wimp out on me," she said firmly, putting her hands on both her shoulders and turning him to face her. "You stood by your beliefs. You refused to do something you know is wrong. I respect and admire that and so will Maxie if she loves you even half as much as you love her."

She gave him an encouraging smile before letting go of him. He headed for the door, but stopped and looked back at Heather again. She was still smiling at him.

"Thank you, Insightful One."

Her smile widened.

"You may keep the money. Your time and advice have been worth more than anything of monetary value."

She looked surprised. He smiled at her again before closing the door and leaving Jake's. It was late, but the first thing he was going to do in the morning was find Maxie and admit that he had not followed her directive. He new it was a big risk; he knew he could lose her, but he also knew that she was asking the impossible. Spinelli was not the kind of person who could sleep with someone for the purpose of revenge sex, especially if there was no emotional connection between him and the other woman. For better or worse, his future was going to change tomorrow. His relationship with Maximista would either be strengthened by their next talk, or it would end. Either way, Spinelli couldn't lie to himself anymore. He and Maxie had issues that must be faced. He only hoped Maxie loved him enough to face them with him. If she didn't, he would be alone again.


End file.
